Phantom Shadow
by Dr. Edmund Sirus
Summary: A long time ago, a young lad named Sirus wrote a fanfiction about one of his favorite TV shows: The Teen Titans. Aaaaaaaand it wasn't that good. No, I will never continue this.
1. Overloaded

A long time ago, there was a guy named... let's go with Sirus. Sirus was a young lad, easily impressionable and brimming with ideas. Sirus had a young friend named... let's go with Shaw. Shaw was brimming with life and enthusiasm, and infrequently - thought passionately - expressed her thoughts through a magical medium known as "fanfiction"

Sirus was amazed by such a thing. Who knew you could adopt ideas and create new ones with it!? But Sirus had a very, very big problem: he didn't have any idea how to start! Sirus brainstormed for even more ideas. What _was_ he passionate about? Why, a new show he was watching, of course!

And thus, that young lad named Sirus wrote a fanfiction about one of his favorite TV shows: The Teen Titans.

Aaaaaaaand it wasn't that good.

* * *

_**Phantom Shadow**_

**First Arc of Four:**

**Devildom**

**Chapter 1: Overloaded**

_**I gazed at the molten rock surrounding the narrow corridor, to the mountainous black crystalline double doors blocking my path, to the middle-aged man sitting down on a rock a few yards from the edge of the door. I took a step toward the gargantuan doors, only to halt myself again. Then my mind went suddenly blank. It had been such a long journey just to get here, and I couldn't nudge myself to complete that final push.**_

_**Whoever said it's the journey and not the destination? Well, screw them.**_

_**"You have doubt," he says. I turn back to the man, walking over to a molten stone across from him, sat down, and heaved a sigh.**_

_**Was that really a question? I hate it when they do that.**_

_**Again, my gaze slowly drifted across the length of the corridor and to the stone protruding from the earth in the center of the path and to the gleaming metal resting atop its rough features.**_

_**"I've had that my entire life; it's been one giant cataclysm after another." I sighed and my face fell into my hands.**_

_**"Everyone has doubt. It's a simple fact of life." I raised my head a few inches from my palms.**_

_**"Well, then why ask a question if you already know the answer?" I ask as I turn to the man and getting my first good look at him for the first time.**_

_**He had the looks of a man that made you second-guess yourself about his age, but roughly about his thiries to fourties. He had a sharp, pointed nose etched into his features that matched his cheekbones, though they were developing a sunken look to them. His black eyebrows completed the crop of midnight black hair was atop his head, matching my own; the mess it was kept in proving he had seen better days. He had the collar of his red and black robe turned up just like the bad guys in the 1960's film noir movies. But I doubted that this man was about to attach some cement shoes to Buggsy when I saw the crucifix necklace around his neck. There was also a pair of black medieval style boots on his feet and a pair of matching black gloves. Hung around his neck was a silver-white coif that was kept down, revealing a small cross earing on his left lobe. In all observations, he resembled a monk, with a little creepy Goth thrown into the mix.**_

_**"That wasn't a question."**_

_**Damn, at least my question was answered.**_

_**"I guess... I'm just... trying to remember why I'm hear." I said. "And don't respond with any of that philosophical crap." A ghost of a smile crossed his lips.**_

_**"As you wish then, but my point is still valid."**_

_**"Well I'm sorry Ezekiel, my mind is gone."**_

_**A confused look replaced the one on his face. I sweatdropped. "Err, just ignore that last comment." He nodded at me and heaved a sigh.**_

_**Crap. Here comes a speech.**_

_**"When a person has faced trials and tribulations in his or her life, it's man's nature to stand where they are and reflect on what they have done, or proceed unquestionedly forward. Driven by the curiosity imprinted into my soul, I indeed proceeded forward. But at the end of the road, I looked back and saw the chance to help others, whether it be in life or death. It was then I sacrificed my very existence." The man tilted his head to the side slightly. "I myself have faced obstacles in the past, but I made a choice to remain here, though I had the opportunity to do something much greater with my life. I'm here because I choose to be." For a brief moment, I saw longing and regret in his eyes. "There... have been several times... when I have wondered if I made the right choice when I decided to remain here, but I made the choice... and I can't go back."**_

_**I smirked slightly. "And now here we both are, trapped between the sins of time and our own choices." My head perked up with a start. "I think I know why I came here."**_

_**"Can you tell me?"**_

_**"Feh, sure why not," I once again looked at the titanic doors. "I came here to protect. Protect the ones I care about."**_

_**"A noble cause."**_

_**"Indeed it is..." I said my voice drifting off into the black void of the catacombs of my mind and that of the rocky and barren tunnel. The man noticed my change in demeanor.**_

_**"Is there a person in general for which you came here?"**_

_**"I though I told you to cut the philosophical cr–"**_

_**"A person who you are willing to give your life to protect is no small feat, something I am sad to say is lacking here." I stared opened-mouthed at him for a second, still pondering his words. It wasn't something that I haven't heard before. Why do people keep lecturing other people on this!? It's irritating!**_

_**Bah, he was still right, though.**_

_**"It's true, but I think it's true for you, too, if you are who I think you are" I said, followed by a smirk from the man.**_

_**" Yes, once upon a time, I had a love. But, are the ones you are trying to protect your only reason you are here?"**_

_**"Can you stop being right about everything?" At this statement he let out a laugh that sounded more like a bark.**_

_**"I am sorry. One of my greatest assets is to listen, even to what is not being spoken." He said, letting off another small chuckle. "But why do wish to begin helping your friends here?"**_

_**Now it was my turn to laugh. "Begin? Oh, no no no no no. This certainly is not where it started." My head drifted upward to the black abyss above my head, listening to the waning roars and shrieks of the levels above me. The sounds sent a shiver down the back of my neck. That feeling, along with the screams, was a something I wish I wasn't used to.**_

_**"It most certainly didn't start with me, but I sure intend for it to end with me..."**_

* * *

It was over. At long last, it was over. The weary Titans, beaten, battered and bruised, made their way slowly down Jump City's main street. But the benefits of having all of the Brotherhood of evil in cryogenic stasis and saving the empire of anime in the east was worth it. They all walked down the main street, enjoying the fresh air of the summer day. Starfire took a deep breath.

"It is a beautiful day!" She said, spinning on the spot, her arms wide. The rest of them smiled, even Raven managed to crack a smirk. They had only recently gotten back from Paris last month, sparing a few minutes to capture Dr. Light and throw him in jail. There is still no rest for the weary; the Titans soon hauled their carcasses to Japan to stop Brushogun, who after all had been trying to help them. But it was time to at least try to have a littler R&R.

"It sure is Star." Robin said to her, taking her hand in his own. Starfire returned the gesture. Beastboy and Cyborg only rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, now can we please just get back to the tower, I haven't had this much gunk in my systems since Beastboy was inside me." Cyborg said, slapping said green elf on the back. He fell forward but caught himself.

"Dude! I saved your life!" Beast Boy pouted, giving Cyborg a poke in his titanium chest. He batted his hand away.

"Yo, man! I don't want any more of you on me or in me, grass stain, so don't touch my perfect image."

"Heh, perfect image? I've seen trash cans better dressed." Cyborg's eyes just about popped out of their socket and servo.

"Okay grass stain, now you're going to get it!" He tackled Beast Boy to the ground. The pair rolled around on the pavement and hard earth, kicking up dust. The victor soon turned out to be Cyborg. "Booyah! I told you not to mess with me grass stain!"

THUMP

"Huh?" Cyborg spoke. He then saw himself staring into the eyes of the werebeast from when Beast Boy was poisoned; he just gripped the sides of Cyborg with a meaty, clawed hand.

"Oh boy." Was his only words as he was tossed like a rag doll into a nearby alley. He collided into the wall with a 'thud' and fell down into the apartment's garbage pick-up site, spilling one of the can's contents. He gave a small groan as he picked himself up, only to stumble on one of the cans.

"See, I told you ya can't tell the difference!" Cyborg gave him the evil eye. Some would believe that Robin would admonish them for their childishness, or Starfire try to do her best to get the two to stop wrestling, but the moment was actually broken by a small chuckle from Raven.

"At least you're getting a little better." Beast Boy only starred, but only a moment too long. Cyborg had gathered himself and was ready for round two.

"Grrrr, why you little–" He dived at him, giving a battle cry like a madman. "AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!"

"DUUUUDE! Beast Boy screamed at the tin man in terror. But he didn't get too far; just a mere foot away from his target, Cyborg was surrounded in a cloak of black energy.

"Awww, man, Raven. Why do you have to spoil the fun?" Cyborg whined to the demoness. She directed a hand of telepathic energy at the mess on the side of the street. The mess from the recent disturbance slowly made itself back into their respective cans and bags.

"Because I can. Now don't make me put the two of you into a corner." She let Cyborg fall to the pavement and continued on her path to her home. The remaining four stared for a moment before they kicked themselves out of their stupor. Now it was Starfire's turn to chip in her two cents into the conversation. She sighed and said, "I believe it is time to go home." And then she floated off down the evening sun. The remaining three nodded and followed her down the barren street.

* * *

_**"You have some very peculiar friends." The man said as I took a breath.**_

_**"You have no idea." I replied. The man let off a slight smile, seemingly taking off a few years to his old and edged face.**_

_**"Can you tell me what happened next?" He was startled slightly when it was my turn to let out a bark-like laugh.**_

_**"There's no need to be so civilized here, I'll tell you. Just give me a little time." I settled back down onto the rock. "Their home, in fact, lies within the San Francisco Bay. They had so much excitement within the past month, they really wanted to just have time to relax."**_

_**"They just wanted a normal day?"**_

_**"Indeed they did, and they earned it. But no one can ever have everything they want."**_

* * *

It truly was a normal day for the Titan's. Beast Boy and Cyborg were now fighting and laughing about another video game they picked up before they returned to the tower, Raven was reading another horror story from Edger Allen Poe, Robin was playing the game, and Starfire had a confused look on her face. She had just recently developed a habit from Beast Boy to tilt her head to one side or another whenever she felt this way. Several years had passed since her first contact to Earth and she had made excellent progress of assimilating to Terran culture. Her four friends "pitching in" for the majority of her help. She always did have trouble with emotions and so called 'smack talk' to the villains of Jump City.

'Emotions... yes they are still a very fickle thing to me." She said, recalling her adventures on the hostile alien world. They had proceeded to an Earthern communications satellite to help fix a malfunction. She still remembered those words Robin spoke: "She's not my girlfriend!" and, "Give me space!" There was also her experience in the caves she had with Robin. The moments of dread, panic, fear, and finally hope. To another girl, those next words may have been a feeling of pity, but every time she thought of that moment, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest and the temperature rising in her face. Phrases that she heard for this where 'smitten' or 'pierced by cupid's arrow' Robin could tell her what they meant after he was finished with the game that she asked him to play. She always thought that dancing was a very interesting recreational activity and just couldn't help but smiling at the scene unfolding before her. It was a feat in itself that she convinced Robin to play one of her games.

The lady named Cassidy at the front desk of the video store said that the Dance Dance Revolution Universe was a fairly good game to play. She made an inquiry as to why there were two dances in the title. She didn't respond at first and she followed her gaze. She saw other Earthlings where similar outfits before, so she didn't see anything wrong with a purple pair of cut off shorts to match her boots, the same green hat from her transformation, and a denim jacket along with a handkerchief around her neck.

"Hello? I must inquire why there are two of the dances in the title of game videos?" She still didn't get a respond. Cassidy finally shook off her thoughts of the girl's clothing. "I'm sorry, Miss..."

"Starfire."

"Yes, that'll be 41.99. (ALRIGHT! So I'm making up a few things as I go.)" Cassidy said, in awe that one of the Titans was in her shop.

"Yes, here," she pulled out two twenties and a ten and handed them to the lady.

"I am informed that I should say 'keep the change'," Star said. The other teenager put the game into a bag and handed Star her receipt. She took the bag in her hands and pulled into flight. Cassidy still stared at Starfire. Star suddenly felt her face turning crimson, another habit she got whenever someone stared at her. She flew through the door and the teen finally looked away, then taking a double-take at the flying red head's shorts showing Winnie the Pooh saying 'Buzz off'.

"...she need's to get the hell out of that tower more.

Star had some trouble understanding the instructions that the game gave her so she went to her most reliable source of information, which was, again, Robin. She scoured the tower in search for him and eventually found him in the common room flipping through the channels

"Robin? May I ask for your assistance?" She chirped when she found him. "Sure Star, what is it?" Robin said as he put down the remote. "I wish to participate in this form of recreation," She spoke, holding up Dance Dance Revolution Universe for him to see. "But I do not understand its concepts of play. Can you show me?" She asked innocently. She quickly tried to put on the 'puppy face' that Beast Boy makes always used to try to make Raven crack a smile. She foretold that Robin may not help her due to embarrassment and something Cyborg calls 'nacho' or something. Robin greatly valued him pride and on occasion it made him 'pig-headed'. She tried out the innocent routine and waited for its results.

"Well... uh... Star... I could... but..." Star just stared curiously at the Boy Wonder. She tilled her head to the side in order to look more cute. Robin flushed at the antic. "What is wrong Robin? You will not show me? I desire help in order to play."

"C'mon Robin," Cyborg teased. "Show us how to play!" Starfire looked from Cyborg to Robin, as the color of his face was turning more and more like her hair.

"Guys, Star," he nodded toward her. He was wringing his hands together behind his back and the redness was creeping up to his mask. "Please, there is no way that I can even dance."

"But you where doing the proverbial 'grooving' at the Soto's warehouse when my sister Blackfire came to Earth to run from the law

"Yes Robin, lets see you get your grove on or whatever you say," Everyone turned their heads to this statement. It wasn't Beast Boy or Cyborg, it was Raven. Robin pouted, "Not you to..."

"Sorry Robin, majority rules."

Now Star didn't know which was redder.

Robin was staring at the floor, hoping to curl up and die rather than start dancing in front of his friends. With shaking hands, he reached out to take ahold of the game in his hands. Starfire giggled with glee and tore off the plastic. The next ten minutes where now Robin's most spiteful times of his life. The EyeToy catching all of his movements and some radical movements of the other male Titans mocking him behind his back. The Boy Wonder got passed a few plateaus and then stepped away from the game.

"ALRIGHT! He shouted at the two immature teens. They reduced their mocking laughter to a low chuckle. Robin was seething slightly and blushing plenty more. He thrust a shaking finger towards their direction, "You two..." he said. "And you..." he pointed to Star, "You all will..." His hand was shaking so bad that he lowered it and his face to the floor. "I'll be in the gym." He spoke and he made a slow trudge to the double doors.

"AH HAAAAA Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!" The boys laughed at the top of their lungs, Raven just smirked, and Starfire just stared on at the retreating form. She slowly levitated off of the plush couch and left the room through the door.

She followed Robin's muscular frame down the darkened hallway. She increased her speed in order to catch up to him and put a delicate hand on his shoulder.

"Robin..." she said gently. He gave a small sigh.

"Star, I just-" _**RRRIII RRRIII RRRIII!**_ blared the alarm throughout the halls of the building. Robin turned to her again, his fearless demeanor returned, "Lets go." And started a dash back to the common room. Starfire soon followed suit.

Cyborg turned his head as Robin burst through the door. "What's the alert?!" There was no answer from Cyborg's frozen face. Then, "It's impossible man. Overload is back, but we put him on ice back in Paris with the rest of the Brotherhood." He got up and fully faced Robin. How could he'd've gotten out?: It's impossible with all the security measures that we put up at that place!" Robin held up his hand

"Cyborg, calm down. He got out somehow, but we'll have to get him back again. We'll just have to check the security there again. Where was last seen headed?"

"Give you two guesses were he was last." Robin couldn't help but give a small smirk.

"Alright. Sun and uranium."

"Last one right on the mark."

'Titans! Lets move!" Everyone dashed to the doors to a fairly sized alcove on the left wall. Cyborg pointed out long ago about the frustratingly common disturbances that sprang up while the Titans were trying to enjoy their peace and quiet. He then came up with the idea of an inertia-dampening elevator to reach the bottom floor. Its unique design allowed the elevator to siphon off some of the effects of a free falling drop, giving them precious time. Each microcircuit was specially designed by Cyborg himself, with a little help of Robin's former mentors' never-ending checkbook. The doors opened up with a swish to allow the Titans access to the lower garage. The titanium doors opened up to reveal the sun's wrath of a bright summer day. Robin gave a small flip in the air and onto his motorcycle, making sure his helmet fits snugly onto his head. Cyborg gave his arm a twitch and a set of keys flew out of his forearm and into his palm. He jumped into the drivers seat and the car roared to life. Beast Boy morphed his body into a raven and with a beat of his wings, soared out the door with the two female Titans at his side. His feathered head peered about to scan for the other two Titans. A streak of red and blue burst from the Tower and down the narrow cement path.

"Cyborg, bring up the bridge!"

"Alright man!" He flipped a switch on the dashboard. Ahead of the two, a bridge rose from the depths of the bay that spanned to the mainland. There was an underground passageway 50 yards away from the garage that led right under the bay. They used the tunnel as a standard way to get across the bay, but they raised the bridge in emergency cases. Tire tracks blazed across the bridge and to the other side, three Titans following onwards as well.

* * *

Jump City is one of the most bustling manufacturing and industrial centers of in the country. Enormous factories and warehouses pumped out the next generation technology used in almost everyone's home. The Southern districts were almost entirely devoted to these factories.

The Eastern districts used up most of the coastlines for storage and the fishing enterprises. Some of the sea food delicacies can be found at these areas and can fetch a substantial price for many restaurants and anglers. Warehouses in these parts can be seen stocked full of fish, waiting to be packaged up to who knows where. Other corporations either bought or leased the rights for some of the warehouses to store their surplus.

The Southeast district is the urban slums of the city. Rundown apartments dot the zone in a few places along with impoverished stores. There was a very high unemployment rate and numerous homeless. The Titans were the symbol of the city, they were frequently disliked and booed out of the area after their job is finished. People here generally felt the resentment at them because they felt neglected by the rest of society.

The district in the North was the residential and recreational part of the city. Most of the apartment complexes stood around 15 stories tall, the tallest and most extravagant being the SkyLark Hotel and Suites. At 55 stories tall, it contained pools on five different levels, the largest being on the ground floor; to appease kids and nerds of all ages, the 54th floor contained an extensive electronic center and an arcade (Hell yeah. Brackets may become common from now on to explain more of the story because I'm pathetic and hopeless), a food court below it along with a small market plaza; and an artistic and gymnastic center a floor below that, and there's still many other. But this is only one of the many leisure activities that a person can partake in. The four parks are a family favorite when they need to relax.

The Last district in the West is the construction and mining center of Jump City. It's where 21 of the cities profit comes from. Quantities of diamonds and other valuable mineral ores, combined with its other resources, makes this city the 6th richest in the country. But in order to power all of the buildings and manufacturing, the governor set aside land to build to power plants 19 miles apart from each other. The first was a giant solar collector plant, but not just any plant. This plant used a set of three synchronized satellites to collect and store solar energy and converted it to an energy beam to be set back to a solar collector grid on the Earth. Each satellite was positioned in orbit so that energy could be directed down, even while it's night. The other power plant was an underground nuclear reactor. The core was encased in a natural lead ore deposit, reinforced by steel walls and girders. It's considered the safest nuclear plant in the world, but not at the moment...

Robin's bike rocketed down the streets of the barren desert, his friends closely by his side. Only one thought was racing through his mind, 'Why?'. All of the villains that the Brain recruited were still cryofrozen. The thought gave him an idea. He tapped at a few of the controls on R-Cycle's dashboard and a miniature LCD screen rose up.

'Idiot, should have done this first' he though. There was only static at first before the screen fizzled into existence. At the other end of the line was a middle aged man sitting behind a dark mahogany desk with stacks of papers littered everywhere. The man looked up from one of the documents he had been pondering over.

"What can I do for you, Robin?" Mayor Robinson jovially inquired in surprise.

"Do you know of the situation at the power plant?"

"I've been getting reports just a few minutes–"

"Good, I don't see how this is possible. I need you to check with the French authorities and see if the containment on the cryoprison has been breached in anyway, any suspicious activity whatsoever." The Mayor leaned back in his overly ergonomically friendly chair.

"It's already been done Robin." The Boy Wonder smiled. "Don't know what I'd do without you, Mayor."

"Well, here's hoping that we don't find out anytime soon. You got some work to do."

"Over and Out." The screen crackled before going blank and slid back into its proper compartment. He looked upward toward the barren highway, seeing some of the security towers of the nearby power plant.

* * *

"UUGHHH!" Grunted one of the security guards as he flew toward one of the walls in an electrical torrent. Two guards stared at their fallen comrade before trying to return fire with their laser rifles, but to no avail; the tiny tyrant created an electrical field that repelled the discharges.

"RAAUUGHH!" Came an electronical roar from the microchip behemoth. Overload flung his electromagnetic limbs forward.

_ZZZZTT_! A lightning cascade flew across the room in an arc and crashed into the remaining guards, knocking them into a rough unconsciousness. The monstrosity made a lurching walk into the room he was just momentarily delayed from entering. Inside was an Enterprise's worth of computers and other electronic gadgetry.

Overload made his way over to one of the terminals. Electricity arced from his being and into the terminal, corroding pathways and frying motherboards with surgical precision. Worming him way through the circuitry, he disabled the safety precautions. Back up security protocols emerged, preventing further access. The system, about to lock down, soon let in the visitor. After all, the visitor said that it was scheduled for a system check.

He looked up through the large plexiglass window and into the adjoining room. Strobe lights and sirens were going off in the massive room, massive pistons opening the semi truck sized sliding doors. A feminine mechanical voice echoed throughout the massive dome:

CAUTION TO ALL PERSONAL. CLEAR THE IMMEDIATE AREA. OPENING NUCLEAR CONTROL ROD BLAST DOORS. REPEAT, CLEAR THE IMMEDIATE AREA.

In a few moments, the scuttle revealing the Uranium control rods below. The microchip then supercharged his body, and surged forward, effectively phasing his way through the plexiglass wall and into the dome. More electrical components fried as he wormed his way through more electronics and firewalls. He then arced downward into the wide shaft and into the underground pit. The electromagnetic entity reformatted himself inside the reactor containment dome and then gazed about. The entire pit was roughly fifty feet in diameter, accompanying large steel catwalks branched across the cylindrical room that attached to large steel cranes and two monitoring stations. In the center of the room was an Olympic sized swimming pool with a large structure in the center.

Overload moved his form forward to one of the nearest control panels. Hot electrical energy curved from his body and into the circuitry, again rewriting security protocols.

_Kur-Chunk_!

_Whirrr_!

The large scaffold-ish structure rose from the pool, the control rods gaining heat as they meet the sterile air of the plant. Overload faltered only moments at the sight, his tiny, computer mind revering in the thought of the fallout to come; everything within at least 120 miles would be contaminated by radiation. The wind could assist in spreading the particles, so millions could suffer radiation poisoning. It would be a blow that America would never forget. His body was completely inorganic, immune to all ill effects.

He shook himself out of his daydream and set up another focused charge at the reactor core rods; all he had to do was create a surge of power, the rods will proceed back down, the security will fail to stop it, and then heat would skyrocket and melt the rods and the core will ignite. This was too easy.

"TITANS, GO"

Overload turned around, only to see the city's 5 protectors swarming in on him from all angles in the shaft; an emerald and auburn jet, a perigon falcon. A plume of demonic energy, the thunderous sonic energy of Cyborg, and the revered Boy Wonder swinging down on a grappling hook. All the Titans came down on him with an equal space between them, leaving no physical means of escape.

Plan B was in effect. He began to charge his body with energy in order to flow back up the shaft and trough the conduits. Raven sensed his tactic, and with smooth motion of her arm, she sent out a pulse of energy from herself, severing all the wires and electrical circuits.

Okay, now Plan C was in effect. His sub-sentience forced him to respond at eye blink speed and set an equally powerful burst of energy at the heroes, sending them flying off in every direction. Seizing this chance, he redirected the excess energy into the control rods, corroding them.

WARNING: POWER BUILD-UP IN CORE APPROACHING CRITICAL. BREACH IMMANENT.

"NO!" Robin shouted as he got off the floor. The entire system was under repair, so the overrides were more-or-less deactivated. He reached toward his utility belt and took ahold of one of the explosive disks, and with a well aimed throw, the disk implanted itself in the few inches of dry concrete above the pool.

_BOOOM_!

The disk let loose its destructive force and launched a large slab of concrete into the air, which happened to have Overload on it.

"Cyborg! We'll see if we can prevent this from going off, the rest of you, secure him!"

His team responded without another word. Cyborg hurried over to where the rods took a beating.

"Man, the rods are almost welded to the cylinders, the compensators are shocked, and the bleed-off vents to redirect excess power away from the core have been fused shut; he really did a number on this–"

"Never mind that, can you fix it!?"

"I can try. But I don't know. It takes a massive amount of energy to do what he just did, I don't know how he ever had this much power and precision."

"Never mind that now. We'll have to do our best, I'll see what I can do in the command center," Robin jerked a thumb in the direction of the shattered windows. "And see if I can get those doors closed."

Their eyes met and Cyborg nodded, understanding what that meant. Distracted by Overload, they would never be able to get out in time if the reactor goes into meltdown.

"Do what you can, man."

As soon as the order was given, Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy all took to the air in their various ways. But gravity was taking effect too soon; the concrete slab was plummeting back to the ground. Starfire acted quick, wrenching one of the steel conduits from the side of the cylindrical pit. Raven phased herself and Beast Boy shrunk to a hummingbird as Star tightened her grip on the pole and swung it around her in a circle and it connected on the side of the slab, crushing it on impact.

The force of the blow jolted Overload enough to send him flying off the slab and onto the upper floor. Just as he got to his feet, his three opponents were almost on top of him. Acting quickly, he jumped into the air and let loose a maelstrom of power, connecting with Starfire, who was unable to dodge the attack. Beastboy acted quickly, morphing into a squid. He wrapped a tentacle around one of the conduits to keep his balance and grabbed Star before she could fly off in some random direction.

Raven took advantage of the small opening.

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos!"

Other conduits that Beast Boy had not grappled onto were wrenched from the side of the wall and rocketed toward the air, enveloping Overload inside a cocoon of steel and wiring. Arms glowing with the midnight black energy, she brought her arms together, squeezing the lump of metal like an empty soda can.

Starfire had recovered from the blast and now aimed for the crushed ball, cocking back a fist to swing at Overload with all her Tameranian might. Just before she reached her target, she suddenly came to a halt, a look of confusion on her face, as she was still trying to get to Overload. The hairs on Beast Boy's neck were slowly raising, suddenly realizing what was about to come.

"Star! Get Away!" But she was too late.

Time seemed to slow down. Overload had magnetized the metal, creating a super dense magnetic field which the alien could not penetrate. He then focused all his energy in one final push, the pipes and conduits straining under all the strain. Beast Boy's increased vision allowed him to watch in horror as Star could not get away in time as the pent up energy found an escape and shrapnel found flew in all directions, impaling everything in sight. While unable to escape the concussion, Starfire managed to recover in time to charge her energies into her optic blasts. The metal vaporized under her gave, much to her relief. A stray particle grazed her cheek, enough to cause a slight wince but she gained her composure. She darted past the remaining debris and her fist now connected to Overload once more. Beast Boy's gave a small sigh of relief and redirected his attention to Raven... who ceased to move as debris came flying her direction.

"RAVEN, MOVE!" He bellowed as he reared up on his haunches and leaped toward Raven with all his might.

Raven did not obey the command. She just levitated, the same dazed look on her face, seeing something beyond the floors that the others could not see. A shadow fell over her small figure, but she still payed no attention to it. A particularly large chunk of debris was propelled toward her. Another shadow came into her vision, but she still payed it no mind. Beast Boy had transformed into a cheetah to take of the ground, then turning into a gorilla as he wrapped a burly arm around her waist. The hunk of metal just grazed his hairy back. Newton's laws kicked in and he sank to the cold metal deck of the platform.

Time normalized. Beast Boy returned to his original form and knelt by Raven's side, who was beginning to snap out of her trance. There was a loud crash behind him but he ignored it for the moment, trusting Starfire to be well and able to hold Overload off for a few moments. Concern crossed his mind; Overload was dishing out much more punishment then usual. But he had to make sure that his comrade was alright.

Raven propped herself up on her elbow, clutching her head and shaking off the last effects of whatever took ahold of her.

"Raven wha–" Beast Boy started, but stopped himself.

"I–I don't know. Something just... something's different. I don't know what happened."

She got to her feet and cleared her head, the phenomenon gone. Beast Boy still looked concerned, but he let it go for now, they had more pressing matters to deal with.

_SWISH_

_THUMP_!

Robin's boots hit the ground, retracted him grappling hook, and he bolted toward the command tower. He took a quick glance toward him right and saw the ensuing battle. He looked back at the tower; his team could take care of themselves well enough. He reached the base and fired the grappling hook around the top rung of the ladder.

_CRACK_!

"Son of a -!"

The zip line reached the top and he jumped up onto a small platform, stumbling slightly. He rubbed his knee cap where it connected with one of the ladder rungs. He hobbled across the few feet of the platform, shaking off the last ebbs of pain. Instead of going through the door and chancing that it way lead to somewhere else, he lessened the slack on the grappling hook and-

_CRASH_!

Flung it into the window that Overload hadn't broken, creating enough room to leap through. Robin surveyed the damage: Many of the computer controls were completely fried. He strolled over to one of the still working monitors and searched to see what he could find.

_Crrrrk - "How is it?"_

Cyborg's voice crackled over the Titan communicators. His finger strayed to one of the buttons on the device, activating him end of the intercom.

"Not good, most of the system's fried. But it looks like he didn't attempt to short circuit the emergency close. He didn't expect us to be aware of his presence, thinking that he was looked up in France. But I still think that the auto-close is still operational. How are things on your end?

_"I'm making progress, like you said, he didn't expect us to rain in on his parade. I'm trying to remodulate the components in my sonic cannon to help."_

"Can you shut it down?"

_"...I think so, but no guarantees."_

Robin didn't reply at first, the rumbling down below and the steady 'tac tac' of his gloved hands on the keyboard fading into the background. There was only one other option.

"Do what you can," was the order.

There was no reply. None was needed.

* * *

_Flash!_

And the remaining three Titans flew back once more. And the three groggily got right back on their feet, their opponent blazing like a light-blue star. He flexed his arms, gaining still more power, but mostly to intimidate his opponents. The air was alive with current, metal rattled and hairs were raised.

"RAUUGGHH!"

His mighty aura flickered for a brief second as he charged his energies up for one more attack. Beast Boy leapt into action at this small opening. He morphed into a woolly mammoth and stampeded toward his attacker. He lowered his head toward the side and swung as hard as he could. Overload flew backwards like a bullet, but not before he unleashed his attack.

He let off a torrent of energy at Beast Boy, strong enough to reverse his form's massive momentum. He let off a roar through his trunk as he has lifted off his feet and blasted right back toward his teammates. Raven was quick to act, throwing up a shield just in time to prevent herself and the still dazed Starfire from being crushed. The strain on her body was immense, but she managed to lift Beast Boy's form above and over the two, just before her mind dipped into blackness...

The pain of colliding with Raven's shield was equally immense, enough for him to revert back to human form. He landed on the cold, metal floor and rolled to a stop into one of the computer stations. And boy, did he hurt, everywhere. He detected a soft glow behind his lids and his eyes bolted open. He saw Overload leap into the air and land a few feet away. He scrambled to his feet, almost. Just as he propped himself up, pain burst through his mind and he flopped back toward the hard floor. His arm was broken.

Overload gathered his energy, attacking the Titan now in his weakened state. Beast Boy's eyes leveled off the ground and came to the small, red chip that was Overload. Pain was still racing through his mind. Just great, a concussion to add to a broken arm. It isn't helping that Overload kept on getting brighter and brighter as well. He attempted to focus his mind, preparing for one last attack, maybe to buy enough time to regroup with the others. That's when too many things happened at once.

There was a streak of black with some blue and Beast Boy's heart leapt at the sight of Raven... or someone else. Raven usually moves by levitation, but this person had just apparently jumped at Overload from behind him. The stranger's leap made a long, quick arc at Overload. The villain was astonished and surprised, his attack forgotten. The stranger reached for his hip and pulled out a katana with his right hand. He finally came down and made a downward slash through the air with his blade. Overload had only a microsecond to react, but still well within his computerized mind's capabilities. He redirected his attack upward, deflecting the stranger's attack. The stranger bounced off the shield and flipped backwards through the air, landing safely between the fallen hero and the semi-upright/hunchbacked villain.

"Who-who are you, you're not -" But he had no time to finish his sentence. The stranger once again leapt into the air, but this time it was a beeline toward's Overload, the katana now in both hands. Overload analyzed his opponent's attack, the katana held at his right, but the blade pointing toward his left, guarding himself. There was a second katana sheathed at his left hip, but he left that one alone for now. But his elbow was directed at his side, prepared to grab the blade in a moment's notice. Whoever he was, the stranger at least knew a little about what he was doing. And the hardened stare in his eyes told him he wasn't going to back down without a fight.

Overload put one foot behind him to brace himself and also jumped toward his opponent, energy crackling in his hands. The stranger suddenly changed his attack pattern in midair to a two-armed thrust, and Overload responded by preparing to attack right down the center. This stranger wasn't too smart, forgetting that metal conducts electricity. Just before they connected, the stranger changed his attack again, sort of. He lifted the hilt into the air and plunged the blade into the steel floor and pole-vaulted into the air over his head. Overload halted and brought his head up, hearing the scrape of steel. The stranger unsheathed his other sword.

'Pathetic human.' Overload thought. His body was made of electromagnetic currents, he would still be electrified. He deliberately was slow in turning around to protect himself. The stranger landed and brought his sword in a strong, horizontal arc, and still didn't halt his attack. He saw the hardness in his eyes again, two ice blue orbs glaring at him with unwavering tenacity. Concern floated through Overload's mind too late. As the sword connected with his side, a sensation that he considered to be pain flowed through his tiny mind.

"AAARRGHH!"

He finally launched the barrage of energy in his hand at the stranger with fury. Again, the stranger seemingly bounced off the very air itself, and he saw why: the stranger was cloaked in energy. At first, it resembled the hybrid girl's power. But it had a few subtle differences. His power had small ripples of red and purple bonded within the black. It wasn't quite the solid energy that Raven had, it seemingly danced with the very air itself, flowing outward from his very being. His sword was saturated with energy, explaining why he was unharmed by his body. He leapt backwards, avoiding another hasty swipe. He gave him a teasing smile, getting back into sword stance. His ice chips for eyes still not leaving Overload's 'face.'

"Pathetic, huh?" The stranger taunted in a baritone voice, the same sickening smile strewn across his face. Overload blanched, if he were human that is. The stranger gave a small chuckle and broke stance. Slowly, very slowly strolling over to Overload.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with." He taunted again, his sword loosely held in his right hand, scraping the cool metal surface. He started to sway from side to side, the sword now off the ground.

Playtime was over. It's on now. Instead of attacking him directly, he directed is attack into the metallic floor. Beast Boy screamed in agony. Paying so much attention to the newcomer and the ensuing battle, he didn't have enough time to escape before the floor become alive with current. Fortunately, the stranger acted quick. He leaped into the air above Overload. Again, he charged the energy into his hand and pushed himself against the air, being upside down in midair. Overload was having trouble following his movements. This guy wasn't as quick as Kid Flash, but he was fast. He was on the ground one second, the next he was right in his face. For just a moment, he was only smiling at him, the next, the sword was arcing at him in a downward/vertical arc. Overload arced backwards, having no time to prepare an attack. The golden hilt just barely missed him, then the blade arced past him.

The stranger came out of his messed up/gravity defining somersault, landing on the ground, sort of. A platform of energy formed four inches off the ground beneath his feet at the last second; solid, but still flickered like smoke in the wind. He yanked Beast Boy off the ground, screaming one last time as his arm was jolted, sending more pain to his groggy brain.

"Sorry man, hold on for one second." He said. Overload had just caught up with his movements, sort of. He was rising from his half crouch at Beast Boy's side, energy now flowing out of him in a torrent. He turned his head to the side, his taunting smile gone, now replaced with a look of unending determination across his face. Fear crossed his computerized mind, unable to break contact with those cold, blue eyes. He took both hands and gripped the hilt of his katana. He moved at superhuman speed, gracefully moving in a zig-zag motion. Overload was still paralyzed at the cold glare he received. The stranger was soon right in his face, and then vanished, leaving only the fallen hero in his gaze. He slowly saw that the world was turning on its side. Overload let it, the realization of what happened still not registering. He looked down, and then it did. His torso was separated from the rest of his form and was now lying on the floor, a ghostly haze still flickering at the clean slash that was made at his waistline. His energy was seemingly gone and drained from him, passing through his body just as the katana had. His visual processors, starving for energy, were slowly fading into blackness. The stranger collected his other sword, and in a flash of blue light, was gone.

'Damn.'

* * *

A S.W.A.T. team ran down a wide corridor in a standard two-by-two cover formation. They soon came up to a large pair of security doors and stopped.

"Ouvrir les portes." One of the men said to another. The second man nodded, pulled out a key card from under his uniform, and slid it down a scanner. The electronic eye took a few seconds to register, and the red eye turned green.

"Accès biométrique de sécurité actuelle." Droned the computer. The second man removed his glove and placed his palm on a security pad that presented itself from the wall. The remaining two lifted their visors and stepped up to a pair of electronic eyes. Each of the men had their retinas scanned with a tiny blue light and stepped away as the security doors gave a metallic groan, and lifted to give access to the four men. They looked upward, past the newly repaired ceiling and to the several rows of frozen criminals. Awe struck each of the men simultaneously.

"Ce qui dans le monde?"

* * *

Beast Boy opened his eyes to his four comrades, then bolted upward, only to be forced back down.

"Stay still, you suffered some serious injuries." Raven stated in her usual calm voice. She was working on repairing his arm, her hands in a blue glow. He turned his head toward Robin.

"What about the reactor?"

Robin smiled and shook is head. "It's been taken care of, don't worry."

Cyborg gave his huge, comical grin, "Well all right!" Raven gave him an irritated glare and stood up, "That should do it for now, but it might still be tender for a while."

Beast Boy got off his back, sat, and surveyed the damage. A team of engineers could be seen at the command tower assessing the damage. There was another team of men, the security detail, that was carting off Overload in a hazmat container, taking all precautions that he couldn't absorb any more energy. Robin saw him look around.

"I'd say Beast Boy, you really did a number on Overload. And the computer terminals here only suffered minimal damage."

He didn't respond at first. "That's just it, I didn't stop him. Someone else was here." At this, Robin's face became serious.

"Did you see who it was?" He shook his head.

"No. He moved too fast. All I saw of whoever it was black and blue clothing."

Breaking the conversation, Robin's communicator gave a noise, signaling an incoming message. He pulled it out and flipped it open, four pairs of eyes now on him. On the other half of the screen was the Mayor.

"Yes mayor, what is it?"

"I just got word. Shutting down the reactor and stopping Overload, I'd say you fulfilled today's quota."

Robin tried to at least give a small smirk, "I'm afraid we can only take credit for the former. It appears we had help putting a stop to Overload."

"Well, I'd like to personally congratulate this helpful citizen."

Robin glanced at Beast Boy, who shrugged. "I believe you will have to wait until another time, mayor. Whoever it was, they appear to have left as soon as Overload was taken care of. Then security personnel on the road to here apparently didn't catch him either."

Mayor Robinson sighed, "Well, I guess I have no choice on that matter. The city still owes you a debt of gratitude anyway, Robin. Until next time." And the screen went black.

"You're sure?"

Beast Boy nodded, "No doubt, someone else was here."

Starfire was the one to break the silenced that followed, "I suggest that we head back to the tower." Robin waited one last second, analyzing the damage.

"All right, let's move out." The remaining Titans followed the orders, save for Starfire. She stood behind Robin for a moment, then walked up behind him and placed her arms around his shoulders.

"There is no more need to worry Robin. Everything is all right."

Robin placed a hand on her arms, "I'm not really worried Star, just... curious." He turned to look at her emerald eyes. "That is allowed, isn't it?"

Starfire smiled and tightened her arms into a hug and let go.

"I believe it is."

* * *

Time to sleep... all nighter... ... ...


	2. A Tale of Two Heroes

**Chapter 2: A Tale of Two Heroes**

Happy Halloween, f00s! (At least in my time zone, I'm cutting it kinda close.)

Disclaimer: In my sad and pathetic attempt to attract more people to my ragtag story, here is my next chapter (sniff). As for any confusion about my character's powers, they will be addressed in more detail within the next few chapters. And if you ask if I own TT, you shall suffer 100 smacks with a wet noodle. But the two people who officially reveal themselves in this chapter are mine. You can't have them. Unless you ask nicely, but don't get your hopes up.

Kudos to those who catch the Iron Man reference.

* * *

_**Phantom Shadow**_

**Chapter 2: A Tale of Two Heroes**

_**"Since you wish for me to avoid being too civilized," I laughed at that. "Why is this of importance?"**_

_**"You want to know why I'm here?" He nodded. "Well, I'm starting at the very beginning. Sit back and relax, though, this is going to take a while"**_

* * *

The team of five moved toward the outskirts of the power plant, proud of their recent triumph, but still aware of their new development. Half way back to Robin's R-Cycle, his communicator gave another blip. Without word, he reached for his utility belt and activated the device.

"So soon, mayor?" Robin said.

"I apologize Robin, I just got some more news that may intrigue you. I spoke with some friends of mine at the French consulate to see what they could find out about Overload's escape. Good news is that only two were released, so you can give a sigh of relief now, Robin."

"Still a little high strung at the moment mayor. It's going to have to be another time." Robinson smiled and continued.

"Very well. The consulate ordered a team into the prison to review the damage."

"And." Robin urged. The other Titans had stopped altogether to listen in.

Mayor Robinson's smile widened, "There was no damage on his escape. But!" he quickly interjected before Robin could speak. "Overload's alcove had severe damage, along with Mumbo Jumbo's, most likely from an explosive, but not to the cryogenic freezing modules. Mumbo apparently escaped before the French ambassador could be informed. But the strange thing is the blast apparently originated from _inside _the wall itself."

Robin's eyes widened. "So was there some type of time delayed charge waiting, just to release anyone there? Is there more ch-?"

The mayor interrupted, "Just let me finish Robin. As soon as the SWAT team saw the damage, they called in for backup and surveyed the area. Charges were the first thing they looked for. Then they checked the internal sensors. Now here's the interesting part. Apparently, for 45 seconds there was one additional person inside the compound. That signal only appeared in the compound itself, however, not entering through any of the access points."

"So, are we dealing with a teleporter?"

"Apparently, but something's fishy here."

"Why is that?" Robin inquired.

"The internal sensors indicated that the intruder held his or her location for roughly 15 seconds near Overload's alcove. Then the explosion took place right over the intruder's position. The signal vanished in thin air just a few seconds later. As you can tell, that doesn't make all 45. I don't believe he was killed in the blast, since no remains were found and because the signal reappeared moments before the team arrived, but vanishing again before they entered the room. It may or may not be the same intruder, though I suspect it is. I'm no detective, but I doubt that someone who released a criminal would return. At least, not in that type of prison"

"I believe your suspicions are correct, mayor. Keep me informed if anything turns up."

"Of course I will, Robin. It must get rather dull in that tower, but I got to keep you occupied to satisfy the taxpayers." Mayor Robinson gave a small laugh and the screen went blank.

No one spoke for a few seconds, which is until Cyborg broke the silence. "You think that maybe this guy Beast Boy saw has anything to do with this?"

"Not sure, though I wouldn't doubt it. We're missing something here, and that stranger has the answer." He looked up. "Enough time's been spent, let's head back to the tower." Cyborg opened the driver's door, and then stopped. "Maybe we got this wrong." He turned to Robin, "What if he didn't intend to release Overload. What if it was an accident, and then he came back here to stop him?"

Robin gave it some though for a moment. "Possible, but I don't think so. The most likely option is that we're dealing with two different people. Overload got here way too fast for someone to help him and then turn on him. It's not worth the effort"

* * *

_**"Well, it did make sense, but they were far from what really happened . . . kinda."**_

* * *

Cyborg nodded, well it did make sense. Cyborg reached for the handle to open the driver side door, then stopped himself.

"Woah, didn't I already open the door?"

Beast Boy shrugged, "Who knows? Let's just go home."

Everyone nodded and proceeded in their own manner of transportation. But just as Raven was about to take into the air to meet Starfire, she stumbled and collapsed. All eyes were immediately on her.

"Raven!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "What happened now?"

Raven's eyes were empty, almost glazed over. Cyborg opened up the data pad on his forearm and did a scan.

"I don't know man. Apparently there's nothing wrong with her. Vitals are all normal, respiration, neural activity, heart's a little elevated, but that's it."

Raven groaned and stirred in Beast Boy's lap. She got on to her hands and shook off the last bits of, well, whatever it was.

Robin turned to Beast Boy. "You said 'What happened now?', when did this happen before?"

"While we were fighting Overload. She just stopped moving altogeth-"

"I can speak for myself." Raven coolly said standing up and brushing off the small layer of dust that formed on her leotard. The team's eyes were all still on her. "What?" she said, the same sharp tone now back in her voice. "I'm fine."

"Apparently not." Robin speculated, pointing at her hands, which were alive with black energy. Raven quickly suppressed the surge of power.

"This is serious Raven. You almost became comatose twice." Beast Boy said, a small note of urgency in his voice.

"I said I'm fine." The note of finality in her voice made it clear that the issue would not be pressed anymore for the moment. Robin observed Raven for a moment and nodded.

"All right, lets go home. But I want you," he indicated to Raven. "To ride with Cyborg back to the tower. I don't want you to become separated from Starfire and pass out." Raven was about to argue, but stopped herself. She opened up the passenger side door and got inside along with Cyborg.

Back at the tower, all of the Titans were now lounging about in whatever positions they chose. More often then none, someone's eyes drifted back to Raven. Robin had a talk with Raven as soon as they got back to the tower, but she said the same story to Beast Boy. All she said was that something wasn't the way it was supposed to be. Robin left it at that; it was getting late. Power was shut off in each corridor one by one. Raven was the last to go to bed. Being too tired to get on any pajamas, she only removed her cape before she slipped under the covers. Sleep did not yet come to her, all because of not revealing something to her teammates, but it was more out of curiosity and concern, rather than insubordination.

She felt his presence before either Beast Boy or Overload, silently thanking the former for rescuing her. A dark ripple that appeared in her mind indicated his presence from some other section of the power plant. She felt the aggressiveness first, indicating he was male, and she instinctively ventured out in her mind to seek it, only to encounter a wall.

Raven was surprised with herself when she cursed; no one had ever blocked her telepathic probing. Well . . . except one, which was exactly was why she was concerned, or maybe afraid. The battle around her was forgotten, only the telepath mattered. She circled his mind probing in different places. But every time Raven found an opening, a wall of something came out of nowhere. She had to get closer to this thing, but that could be dangerous. She poured more power into her telepathy in order to better 'see' what was in front of her.

She inched her way forward to the barrier and saw something she almost didn't believe. The blackened wall in front of her was titanic, reaching into the heavens of a blackened and cloudy sky. She examined the wall even closer. At first seemed to constantly shift and move, but apparently it was created of shifting and fluxing black energy. The very same Beast Boy described the stranger having on return to the tower, almost the same as her own . . .

Such power . . . it was impossible for him to not detect her presence, unless he didn't care or consider her a threat. A shiver went down Raven's spine, fully realizing three truths about the stranger she knew for certain.

One: the stranger was a male

Two: He had a large quantity of shadow magic, similar to hers.

And three, Raven swallowed: The only way he could have gotten that kind of strength was from a demon. A demon as strong as Trigon.

* * *

_**"Raven's always been the most perceptive of the team. Her only disadvantage is her powers. Since her powers are directly influenced by her emotions, she has difficulty showing them, for fear of harming those around her. She holds back on acting on her gut instincts because she doesn't want to lose the friendship and trust of those around her, no matter how much she believes she's right. That proved to be the entire team's downfall on one fight against Slade, and his current apprentice at the time, Terra. Friends are just something that she is never willing to give up; that is both a blessing and a curse. But she wouldn't have to wait long to get some of her answers. You know what they say: Fate's a cruel mistress."**_

* * *

There weren't any calls that the Jump City Police Force couldn't handle during the night, so the Titans got a nice, long rest, that is until it was 6:00. One by one, the five Titans groggily made their way out of their rooms and got ready for breakfast.

"Mornin'" Breast Boy said, or more like whimpered to Cyborg from lack of sleep. Cyborg responded with a yawn and started to rummage through random cupboards for some grub. Starfire was the next to drift out of the corridor, followed next by Raven and Robin soon after, all scrounging for various forms of food.

"Got a feeling this is going to be a long day," Cyborg mumbled after finding some leftover pizza and a two liter bottle of root beer, pouring some into a glass, tossed the glass onto the counter, then drained the rest of the bottle.

"We are the Titans, when do we have a short day?" Robin responded. He discontinued his search and instead walked over to one of the computer terminals. He proceeded to rapidly type away, searching through the police reports for anything of interest. There wasn't much, a mugger was captured in the subway system and a Russian man was arrested with some high caliber weapon found in his hotel room. He wasn't saying anything on how he obtained it or what he needed it for.

"Nothing much, appears the police have it covered for now," Robin said, somewhat disappointed. A little chaos in the morning always woke him up.

Cyborg got up and went to the terminal to view the data himself, but stopped when Raven caught his eye all of a sudden. Something was very wrong. Raven was clutching her head with one hand and the edge of the table with the other. Her eyes were wide and her teeth were clenched, heaving gasps wracking her body.

"Raven?"

Raven's eyes darted all around the room, then back to Cyborg.

"He-he's here."

Robin was about to say, "Who?", but then jerked his head upward, ready for anything; he had just heard as if some large animal had its arm torn off. What he saw blew his mind for a few brief seconds. Cracks in, well . . . air had materialized, blue light steaming from behind the fracture. The rest of the Titans stood and prepared to face the threat, whatever it was, but Starfire stayed next to Raven to protect her. The fracture fluctuated, slowly appearing wider and wider, forming a gateway. Robin leaped forward to examine the phenomenon. Inside was a mass of swirling blue light of all different hues and colors. Deeper inside the gate, more multicolored light branched off in different directions in ever which way, like some massive and intricate mandala. Robin leaned even closer, and then ducked. A large mass had rocketed toward him, first as a tiny black speck among the mass of blue light, then burst out of the gate with tremendous speed. From the mass, a sword was drawn and connected with the fracture, cleaving it in two. The fracture destabilized, started fluctuating violently, and then collapsed in on itself. The mass continued on its path toward the window. Actually it connected with the side of one of the computer terminals, bounced, and then hit the window, issuing a masculine, "Damn it!" and fell to the floor, the sword clattering a few feet away.

"You think that hurts, just wait 'til I get my hands on you!" Came a feminine voice. This one rolled out of the male's grasp and laid near the couch, dazed.

"You know I didn't mean to do that!"

"If I wasn't still in shock I would kick your ass!"

"Why do you keep focusing on that, damn it?!"

"You did it on purpose!"

"Burning rain of death, end of days, atomic radiation, is any of that factoring in with your rant!"

With that comment, the female clutched a pillow from the couch and threw it at the male's face, who didn't even try to block it.

"You're going to be taking a dirt nap if you keep this up."

_Cl-Clack_

Both of the strangers looked up at the Titans, right into Cyborg's sonic cannon and Robin's unsheathed birdarangs were facing the female. The male just blinked, "Uh, hello . . . sorry I didn't use the front door." He looked out the window behind him. "Hmm, I was aiming for the desert. Need to install a G.P.S. or something."

His gaze ventured back to Robin.

"Apologies, Boy Wonder, haven't introduced myself yet. The name's Reon. Reon Adler." He nodded toward the female. "And the harpy's name is Angela." He switched to a mock tone of adoration. "Though I call her Angel because she acts like my own personal guardian angel." And he earned another pillow to the face, but he still remained collapsed at the window.

Robin scrutinized him. Reon, as his name was, appeared only slightly older than himself, maybe 17 or 18. He had unkempt jet-black hair that went nicely with his ice blue eyes, of which appeared to be ready for sleep. He also didn't look in the best of health; his skin seemed almost unnaturally pale and was clutching his skull as if had a major migraine. He was wearing an ordinary pair of blue jeans and a pair of fingerless gloves, though very worn. There was also a black leather jacket over a standard grey military surplus T-shirt and he was topped off with a pair of brown combat issue boots. What really caught everyone's eye was the pair of sword sheaths across his left hip.

"Dude, it's you." Beast Boy was first to blurt out.

"What?"

"At the power plant. You saved my life!"

"Power plant?" Reon trailed off. The female was next to speak.

"He's talking about the time where you screwed up." Light bulb kicked in.

"Oh! Right Angel, forgot about that." Raven had finally recovered and now glided over to the fallen Reon, much to the protest of Starfire. Ever direct, "Why are you here?" She coldly directed to Reon.

"I'm here for the future of all mankind, princess."

"Might as well tell them, not like we have anywhere else to go." Robin switched his attention to Angela, but only because he detected a hardened, steely tone in her voice. She was African American, but was more of a light bronze than black, except for her hair, which was black and in the same messy state as his. There was also an imprint in her hair for headphones, which were now around her neck. They were connected to a small iPod that was attached to her hip. She was dressed in a ver low cut and a very tight red tank top, along with some equally low rise and tight pair of denim jeans. There was also a pair of greenish black vambraces on her forearm, scratched from long use. It was apparent that she was also trying to cover something attached to her right hip. Robin gestured to her hip with one of the birdarangs and Angel begrudgingly removed her arms.

Robin was surprised at first. She was covering something that appeared to be a very peculiar weapon. It resembled at first to be an old weapon called a kusarigama, but instead of a sickle, there was a steel pinwheel attached to the chain. It was small, about a foot and a half long and was out of it's casing on her leg. The coiled chain was long, almost fifteen feet, but still shorter than a standard kusarigama. At the end of the chain was a weight that probably weighed about five pounds. A very odd weapon indeed.

"I will, but can you start?" He bent his knees and grasped his head with both hands now. "I need to get used to this for a few minutes." He had trouble finishing his sentence because he was gritting his teeth so much.

"Get used to what?" Cyborg questioned.

"They're memories." Angela started, trying to look rather bored. "We both have a very unusual form of telepathy. He has a negative field empathy, allowing, or more like forcing, him to relive the moments of people he's near. Hate, fear, pain, betrayal, and many others, but only the ones that the person considers the worst moments. Myself, I have a form of tactile telepathy, not quite like Superboy's tactile telekinesis. By just being near an object, I can psychically predict the past. My subconscious automatically puts together the pieces of certain stimuli, like air currents, residual heat, and vibration. Kinda useful. And don't worry about him, it should take him a minute or two to adjust, but he'll be all right." She plucked at a loose thread from her jeans. "Sooo, I'd say I got the better end of the deal."

"Can't be too pleasant to be in public." Beast Boy said after she had finished.

"...Actually . . . crowds are better . . . " Reon managed to say, trying to stand. Ignoring Robin's protest, Angela went to his side and helped him up. He leaned up against the window, viewing the scenery of the bay and the city beyond. "When there's crowds, the memories overlap too much, and becomes white noise. Unless I teleport myself right into the middle of one."

Reon turned to Angela and whispered something to her. She wrapped his arm around her shoulder and helped him to a chair, picking up the fallen sword on the way. Reon removed the sheaths before sitting down and Angela inserted the sword into it, much to the Titans relief.

"I don't intend on fighting you," He said to Robin. "Though I understand your caution."

Angela proceeded toward the counter and touched the rim of Cyborg's forgotten glass. Her muscles seized up for a split second before she bent down and got another glass from the cupboard, filling it with water from the faucet. She smiled at Robin.

"I told you it comes in handy." And gave it to Reon, who eagerly gulped it down.

"Now, where was I?"

"..."

Reon put his hands in front of him. "Whoa, whoa! Don't all answer at once!"

"..."

"All right, I'll start." He ran a hand through his hair.

"Raven, what do you know about the Relinquo"

Raven's face went pale, though not much more given her current pallor. "How do you know that term!?" She demanded.

"I'm guessing your father was one?" Reon asked, his tone serious. It was now apparent to everyone how worn and edged his voice sounded. And to answer his question, Raven could only nod.

"What is it?" Robin said, directing the question at Raven, though it was Reon that answered.

"It's Latin for forsaken. The Relinquo is an elite group of senior demons, so strong that they are rumored to rule even over Hell itself. I'm sure the malebolge would be nice and comfy for Trigon, yes, I do know who he is, I know a lot about everyone you know, including yourselves." He quickly added, seeming the alarmed look on everyone's face at the mention of Raven's father.

"So Raven, have you heard the name Mefeist?" She shook her head, which made Reon shake his head.

"Pity, I was hoping you knew something about him. A year or so back, I had an unpleasant encounter with him. Heh heh." The laugh was bitter.

"Most of my family was killed early in the warthat ravaged our world, except for my brother. He was serving in the United States Army and left with his troop a few months before they died." Reon barely managed to suppress a snarl. "Last time I ever saw him. You see, tension had been building between superpowers for a very long time, but it was so gradual that no one ever noticed, or maybe never cared enough to bother; too many other concers to deal with. Though there were several precedents before it, the Middle East was considered by many to have made the first move. Terrorist cells hijacked a few planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York, one grazed the Pentagon, and the passengers on the forth and final plane retook it, and it landed in a Pennsylvania forest, away from the cities."

"It was on now. Strain that had accumulated for years burst like a powder keg within just a few years, though the public was too _content _to really care, the politicians thought." Reon put an extra dose of venom in the last word. "We could never understand the complexity of the outside world. We shouldn't be allowed to hear what was happening because they were only _protecting _us."

"Anyways, North Korea was suspected of finally beginning it's own nuclear arsenal, but again, the bureaucrats were wrong. As it turns out, ex-KGB who had staged a coup d'etat had also been assisting them distribute their very high yield warheads, a lot of them, more then anyone had ever thought. It was the same for Iran and Iraq, along with a few other countries. But that bastard President Bush, pardon the swearing, insisted that he was doing everything reasonable possible to stop the terrorist threats, but he needed to step a little outside of the red tape and the law if he wanted to gain control like he wanted to."

"We then proceeded to Japan, one of the few places where it was marginally safe." He couldn't contain the chuckle. "Picked up a few combat techniques from an unexpected source as well, but I'll get to that later. Meanwhile, the United Nations was trying to reaffirm who were their allies and who were their enemies, and that's when fate took an unexpected turn. Two old friends of mine convinced the two of us to join the Army with them, to help do what was right. And don't get me wrong, I trusted both of them implicitly and without question. But something was always off in their personalities, could never put my finger on it."

"Both of them seemed more world weary than everyone else, and they always seemed to know more about what was happening in a situation than everyone else did. They saved our troop more times than I can count, always against impossible odds. They were brothers, so I understand most about them, but there was just _something _different about them. He had on a thoughtful expression. "...Well Simon was insane and Meric was an introvert, which should have been my first tip off. Oh well."

"Anyway, after a long and excruciating time of not looking guys in funny hats in the eye and extensive tactical training, we were on our way. First stop, Brazil. Mission was to stop some drug lords who staged yet another of the who really cares how many coups and, well, yadda yadda. I never really cared what was the directive, just as long as we didn't die."

His expression gave a sudden change, to one the Titans have seen several times before. It was a look that had faced extreme hardship, but was trying to do its best to overcome it.

"Egypt was the next stop our tour guide decided to take us on. There's always been hostility between Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinians, ever since the end of World War II. Israel was supposedly the target of a tactical missile strike, so they wanted to make the first move. Right into their neighboring countries. We were sent into the Nile river basin to our encampment. Sooner than naught, I was doing reconnaissance on an invading encampment along with Angela and the two of them. We found an inconsistency in their duty shifts, and it could be something that we could exploit when we take back the settlement. But we couldn't tell our superior officer when we returned, we encountered a slight problem. It was a bloodbath."

* * *

"Oh my God . . . " Angel said, awestruck. Bodies were strewn everywhere, everyone in various stages of dismemberment. All of them had at least one body part completely severed from the rest of their body. There was almost a hundred and twenty soldiers stationed here, and there wasn't a single one alive. She approached one of the fallen.

"No time." Came Meric's droning voice, but still retained an edge of seriousness in it. He was crouched down by one of the stood back up, the fallen soldier's Desert Eagle in one hand and a Schmidt rifle in the other, tossing the later to Reon. "Look for survivors" He cocked the gun, loading a round in the chamber. "We'll head to the HQ and call in support." Not a soul argued with him. Simon walked to another soldier and picked up an AK-47.

"Our good little boys aren't allowed to use these toys. These were in the contraband weapons locker. Our uninvited guests mustn't have brought the beer shipment."

"Simon could never utter a sentence without a joke or pun of some kind. That's what made him both lovable and also wanted you to knock his teeth down his throat." A smile crossed Robin's face.

Reon walked slowly down the row of barracks, Angela at his heals. Reon approached another fallen soldier and picked up his pistol, giving it to her. She swallowed, the grisly images of soldiers with theirs innards and blood flowing like a river through the earth and sand was still sickening to her stomach. The scent of death was overpowering.

"Try not to look at them." Reon advised. She did not respond.

They continued to walk down the rows of barracks, checking each for signs of life. Again, there were none. All of them seemed outside, ready to do battle again a long gone opponent.

"I don't like this."

"What?" She inquired, her breath fogging in the dying sun.

"I don't like this. Hostiles here thrive on dishonoring the dead of the enemy, but not to this degree. Something's seriously wrong here."

"This is making me really nervous. I'm scared, for once, lets get out of here."

"We need to look for others."

"You should listen to the girl." Came a raspy, sullied voice.

Reon whirled around, weapon at the ready. But it was useless, the falling sun was in his eyes. All he could make out was a figure in his path. Angela could do no batter. He snuck up on them, but did not attack, even though he could have killed them both without any hassle. So the only reasonable action was to hold his ground.

"Who are you and state why you're here?" Reon demanded. He could shield his eyes from the sun with one hand, but he'd have to remove a hand from his weapon, which required two hands to use with the recoil. The figure walked forward. There was an odd lurch in his step.

"Stop or I'll fire!" Reon warned, but the stranger payed no heed to the warning. He had no choice, and fired, but Reon could not distinguish any sounds of impact. Reon risked placing a hand in front of his eyes to see what was in front of him, but nothing was there.

"What the hell?"

He was now painfully aware of how cold it was; the steam issuing from his breath, the hairs standing up on his neck, the shaking of his hands. He gripped his weapon tighter to stop his quivering, but it didn't help. It felt as though ice was flowing through his veins, freezing him to his very core. Angela wasn't fairing much better, barely managing to stay on her feet.

"You're an interesting one . . . " Reon whirled around to face the hostile, but only saw the barren sand.

"I was waiting for one of the other two, but I'd like to have some fun first . . . " A shot went off into the emptiness. Angela had fired a shot off, but it was apparent that she could no longer control her shaking. She dropped her weapon and fell to her knees and latched onto her shoulders, trying to stop her body's trembling and shivering. Reon stepped in front of her to shield her from the threat, but he already knew he wasn't going to be much help. He just couldn't control his fear. He saw a looming shadow in the sand in front of him and turned around again in the middle of the rows of barracks. This time he attacked without giving a warning, but not by firing the weapon. He adjusted his grip to shove the hot barrel under the attacker's chin with enough force to probably leave a person counting all the pretty stars.

The attack was in vain. The intruder merely grabbed a hold of the barrel like it was an ordinary wooden stick. Reon face was a mask of horror, finally getting a clear view of his attacker, but wishing he didn't. A long, thin spider like hand was grabbing onto the barrel, with the appearance that it had been long dead and had been gnawed on by animals overnight. What really got his attention was the yellow catlike eyes that he was staring into, forcing him to give eye contact. Reon was unable to move as another spider like hand grabbed a hold of his waist and lifted him in the air with ease so they could be eye level. This creature was inhumanly tall.

"Oh yes . . . " That sick sadistic tone was still in his voice, but Reon was still paralyzed to even care or get angry. He let go of the gun and the figure tossed it aside. The figure then wrapped his splintery fingers around his left arm.

As soon as he did, Reon became aware of his surroundings once more as pain burst like damn at the point where he touched his arm.

"This is going to be fun indeed." And he let go of him. It took forever for Reon to hit the ground. Each microsecond seemed like an eternity within him mind. Every thought that he could ever remember flooded his mind. His fifth birthday at a water park. When his brother left at the airfield along with his troop. The first time he meet Angela on a trip to Madison. When a second grader got in trouble for hiding another student's backpack.

Seeing himself huddled on the ground screaming in agony as a yellow-eyed silhouette merely watched . . .

He managed to block out the mental onslaught for a few moments to try and gather his thoughts for a moment. The pain flowing through his body and mind making it next to impossible to accomplish. He fell over on his side and got into the fetal position, the pain now at an unbearable level.

"**Concentrate**."

Reon caught the words through the storm in his mind. He attempted to calm his breathing, just as his sensei had taught him. The memory. The one with himself and the figure, it wasn't his. He tried to remember the memory, but it was distorted and blurry in the flurry of light and color.

"**Fear is the mind killer, Reon. Concentrate!**"

Reon obeyed the command. He fell back upon his martial arts training in Japan. The grueling exercises in which his was forced to focus every particle of his mind and body in order to accomplish. The memory flashed by once more.

The sun. It was in front of him. But in the memory, it was to the right. That meant the source was coming from his right. Reon turned in that direction, and there was Angela.

She was huddled against the wall, terror evident in her gaping eyes, spasmodic breath and perspiring skin. The moment he made eye contact, she gasped and tried futilely to crawl back even further.

That moment of fear in her soul was all that Reon needed in order to get up onto one knee, his eyes still not leaving hers."Come on, my Angel." She shook her head violently.

"Come on! Ugh-" He was kicked in the stomach, leaving him winded.

"I see you are protective of this female." There was a soft sound as the creature made its way to her. A long, dead finger unfurled and stoked her check. She did nothing to prevent the gesture. "She smells so sweet and pure, though. I just might have a little fun with her later as well."

Fresh anger boiled to the surface, his own hatred, raw and volatile. "Forget protocol. You're a dead man."

The creature gave a scratchy laugh. "That's not going to help much when I'm already dead."

"Then all we have left to do is bury you!" Two figures ran past him and toward the figure. Simon and Meric had heard the gunshots and come at last. But there were two things wrong; as soon as they came, a fresh wave of pain racked Reon, and his two friends each had something wrong with them. Simon got to the figure first and aimed a roundhouse kick at the figure, which he dodged. But in the wake of the kick, a transparent purple-blue haze followed.

"Take care of them." Yes, that was Meric's voice there. He stopped just short of the figure and brought his hands together. As he did so, the sand on both sides of the figure snaked its way around it with lightning speed and formed a perfect, solid cube. As it completed its prison, the sand developed a translucent quality, hardening into crystal somehow. But like everything else that was thrown at him so far, it didn't help. The crystal shattered and Reon saw why, the creature had an enormous scythe in his hand, topped with a bison skull and stained with the blood of his comrades.

"Got to do better than that." It taunted. And Meric complied. He cocked his fist back and the shattered crystal snaked around his form and around his arm with super speed. The crystal reassembled itself around his arm and into a massive hammer and Meric swung it at the creature with all his might and hit him dead on in the side, sending him flying off into one of the barracks.

While Meric dueled with the creature, Simon had finally dragged Reon next to Angela, who he had to hold on to in order to restrain her. "Damn it, Angela, hold still." Yet she was still too panic-stricken to obey. Too frustrated to think of something else, Simon forced the two to them on their backs in the sand. He then placed a knee on their chest to hold them down, then placed his left hand on her cheek, and his right hand on Reon's cheek.

"Concentrate, both of you." The thoughts calmed in Reon's just slightly, remembering those words.

"Let my control become yours." When did Simon's eyes gain that purple-blue hue?

"Let me help you." The onslaught of memories, gathered from the four minds present, jerked ever so slightly, recognizing another presence inside the mindscape. Reon's mind, still overwhelmed with thoughts, was dwarfed by the much larger presence. Simon's mind then pulled at Angela's, bringing the three's together. In astral form, Simon stretched out a hand into each of their skulls, right into their own thoughts and memories. He got a firm grip and focused his powers, drawing out the energy that was placed in both of them. Raw mental essence oozed up his arms and into his mind. He winced slightly, startled at first with the memories Reon had gathered and Angela's fear. He flexed his mental muscles and gained back control of the flow of thoughts. Through the astral plane, he could see the results of his work; their breathing had evened out and Angela had ceased struggling. He gave a hard yank to get any stray thoughts that caused them anymore discomfort. He then pulled back from the two, retracting his steady flow of power.

"You two think weird thoughts."

Reon gave him the one fingered victory salute."Now what the fuck is going on?! And get off me!"

"Yay, back to normal." Simon looked at Angela, who he had to help to stand because she was still shaking. She managed to get to her feet only to fall back on her knees.

"Take it easy, no one ever gets used to Vulcan mind melds. And he really did a number on you." He said to Reon.

"Yeah, what the hell did he do to me?" He moaned, rubbing his head. "And what the hell did you do to me?"

"No clue on both counts."

"Smart ass. And you're still on me!"

Simon got up, then got back down. A ball of fire demolished the barracks directly behind him, flew over the three of them, and collapsed the linen roof of the barracks across from it, setting it on fire in the process.

"Not bad, better than I thought, I admit." The figure had jumped from the destroyed barracks and perched on the wooden frame of the one still aflame. Through the flickering light, Reon could make out its clawed feet and a pair of scaly black wings protruding from his back.

"But you're still not in my league." Simon got up and helped the other two to their feet, their problem in their minds now gone. Wait, where was Mer- -

"Meric's fine." Simon's voice came out jovial, almost a challenging humorous tone. "He's just having a little fun. You alright in there, bro!?" He shouted at the fire. The other two were in bewilderment. This only got the creature's attention.

"Puny human." It turned on its perch and faced the remaining three, slowly spreading his great black wings.

**BOOOOM**!

From the burning barracks came another ball of flame, impacting the creature right in the back, sending him into the first destroyed barracks. The fire then slowly descended to the ground from the air, taking on a human shape, arms, legs and all.

"Holy shit." Reon said. The fire then walked towards the three. Reon and Angela couldn't help but take a step back, while Simon actually took a step forward.

"Let's kick some demon ass." Simon said as he extended a hand, which was pulsing with a spectral magenta shade. The fire also extended a crackling and blazing hand, meeting Simon's.

"Meric?" Reon thought out loud. The inferno looked over Simon's shoulder toward Reon, and nodded. "Oh, hell, now I'm completely lost."

"Then die!" Came a venomous yell. The creature burst out of the destroyed barracks and swept his massive scythe toward Reon, who was almost twenty feet away but the creature's height and the length of his weapon made the distance no trouble accomplishing. For a brief moment, the creature finally came in full view as the falling sun was now sunk below the horizon, the only light now coming from the Meric and the blazing barracks.

He was bone thin, only stretched and dying and rotted green/black skin seemed to cover him. His knees were also bent backwards, giving him and a hunched back. His chest was almost completely rotted off, leaving only some ribs and a few hanging bits of flesh along with crisscrossing leather straps on his shoulders and torso. His arms were equally rotted and covered in overly stretched skin. He even had some kind of bone or a spike sticking out of his elbow, along with a pair of rusty and spiked wristbands, engraved on them were several different runes and strange etchings. To top it off, his head was the ugliest of all. Unlike the rest of his body, his head was large and had little decay. He had a wide set jaw and at least two rows of jagged and distorted teeth, with foul breath to match. He was topped off with some bat-like ears and blackened horns that curved outward and then upward. His eye sockets were gaunt almost bugeyed, complementing his yellow, catlike eyes. And the angle that he arched himself showed that even his spine looked like it was bulging out of his skin, right down to the devil tail he had. Even his weapon was demonic. The scythe was about eleven feet tall, only slightly taller than himself. The staff itself was apparently made out of a twisted, gnarled and black wood, stained red in several places. At the top of the staff was a burned black bison skull and inside its open jaws was the blade, extending at least four feet long and still splattered with blood. It was engraved with runes and strange symbols.

Reon got a really good view of the etchings because just then, the scythe swept in a wide arch, but this time he was prepared. He launched himself toward the ground, pivoted himself on his arm, and swept a leg at the creature's side with all his might. He grunted in pain, but recovered quickly enough to swipe a boney hand at Reon. He muffled a yell of pain as one of the claws pierced his side and sent him flying ten feet away. He gave a sneer at the teenager just before he lurched forward as Meric launched a ball of fire at him.

"AAARGH!" He screamed.

"Hope Ozzy likes his bat extra crispy." Simon taunted. The creature turned toward the first two, eyeing daggers at them both. With a great beat of his wings, the fire extinguished itself.

"The name is Mefeist, infidels!"

"Heh, ya can't talk tough. All you've done so far is scare Angela, which really isn't too hard." He smiled as she issued a curse at him safely behind the two. "You want to play then?" He picked up part of the wooden framework from the ruined barracks, and a burst of purple light from his hand extinguished the flames and sharpened the ends of the rod simultaneously. "Fine then, lets play."

Mefeist crouched slightly bring his scythe into attack posture.

Simon and Meric spread ten feet apart from each other, Simon smiling, Meric blazing.

Two against one, they stared each other down in the cooling air of the night. Just at that moment the moon appeared from behind the clouds, bathing the army base in an eerie blue light. Reon and Angela could only watch as the standoff progressed, Reon from behind Mayfeist, Angela now behind Simon.

Unsurprisingly, Simon gave a laugh, drawing the demon's attention for a split second. He pointed the sharpened rod at him in an attacking position.

"Boom." He said and energy flowed from him and into the javelin, making it visibly vibrate. He then made a complete circle to gain enough momentum to throw the charge spear. Mefeist prepared a defense, but was almost caught off guard yet again by Meric as his hand went up and launched another fireball at him. Mefeist lowered his weapon and folded his great black wings over himself. The fire impacted, not the javelin, and he once again tossed his wings back to dissipate the fire, only to be right in the face of Simon. The said psycho somehow reacquired the javelin, jumped impossibly high to meet his opponent, and thrusted it toward his chest. Mefeist wasn't quick enough to dodge the attack this time as the javelin pierced his shoulder. Angry, he didn't feel the pain and retaliated by bringing the bottom of his staff down to crush Simon's head. It impacted with a satisfying 'CRACK!', but Simon only smiled at him as his body flickered and died.

"What!?" He cried out in fury, also realizing that his wound was also gone. He had no time to ponder as Meric covered the flank, gathering some of the fire circling his body and gave it a jerk, forming a flaming whip. He flung out the blazing tool outward in a wide arc. The whip blazed like the sun as it cut through the neighboring barracks like butter and set them on fire also before reaching his target. Mefeist planted the butt of the staff into the ground and used his sprang upward to do a handstand on top of the scythe. The whip latched securely on the scythe, just as Mefeist had planned. He then beat his wings once more, bring himself and Meric into the air. Meric was launched wildly into the air and lost his grip on his weapon. It soon flickered and ceased to exist.

Halfway through one of the flipping rotations, he gathered his energy and launched a stream of fire right into the overly abused barracks, straightening his twirling form and propelling himself higher into the air. Mefeist, keeping his high steady with a steady rhythm of his wings, saw his momentary opening in his defense and took advantage of it. With a great beat of air, he rocketed toward Meric. With a swing of his massive scythe, Mefeist attempted to cleaved Meric in two but once again, the brothers had an ace up their sleeves. Just before he was sliced in half, Meric separated himself into two blazing halves. As the scythe whisked in th opening, Meric reassembled himself and brought a fist back once more. Mefeist was too close to block or dodge, so he took another burst of fire full in the chest

"AAARGHHH!" For the second time tonight, he screamed in agony as he was engulfed in flame. Instead of a fireball, Meric focused his attack in a continuing stream. He then brought both hands together and brought them down hard toward the ground, the column of fire mimicked his actions and brought Mefeist down into one of the obliterated barracks. Several more of them had caught fire, including some of the dead soldiers. Meric gently lowered himself to the ground on superheated air, just like a dirigible.

"He wasn't too rough on you was he?" Came that annoying, jocular voice. Meric shoke his head, making the fire flicker and die around his body, leaving him still perfectly safe. The light behind Meric bent and fluctuated, revealing Simon also unharmed.

Now it was Angela's turn to say, "Holy Shit."

"Just sit back and relax, ma'lady. We got it covered here." Simon returned his attention back to Mayfeist's landing zone when he came out of the flames, still clutching his scythe and not even a scratch on him.

"You should be dead." He said. It was more of a question than a statement.

"Yeah I know, I keep getting that. And I'm afraid we haven't introduced ourselves yet. My, where are your matters Meric? Heh heh."

He placed the rod in his right hand and saluted with his left. "The name's Simon." He moved his hand and gave his left temple a flick with his thumb and forefinger. Incredibly, his head rolled off his shoulder and onto the ground. Afterwards, he flipped his head onto his foot and then up into the air, where he then lifted the sharped rod in the air and balanced his head on the very tip when it landed.

"Behold, master illusionist and telepath." He then dropped the rod, letting his head fall. Grabbing the rod in both hands, he swung at his own head with all his might towards Mefeist. In midair, his head yelled toward him saying, "Ands I think you already know Meric's power!"

"Enough of this." Mefeist said. He raised his scythe, spectral black energy trailing in its wake. He brought it to his right and then swung in a horizontal arc. Simon's head was cleaved in two, along with the fireball that Meric had hidden inside it. But as he swung, the energy left his scythe and bolted to the brothers in a crescent moon shape.

They dove in opposite directions to avoid the strike, though Simon wasn't as lucky as Meric. His headless body suddenly collapsed as the crescent left a three inch long gash in his left arm. His head reappeared where it should be and he clutched his hemorrhaging arm, his smile somewhat fallen.

"Damn, what the hell was that?"

"Screw that, what the hell is this?" Reon called out. Simon turned to him and was stunned at what he saw. Reon's left arm was gushing torrents of spectral black energy. He was clutching it with his right hand in an attempt to stem the flow. "I don't know what the f he did to me in the first place, but as soon as he did that black scythe crap, this started happening."

"Get down!" They learned from experience that whenever Meric orders you to do something, you better do it. The moment the next shadow strike passed over Reon, energy exploded out of his arm once more, this time intense enough to cause him pain. Simon moved himself to keel between Reon and Mefeist in order to protect him from another attack, which came immediately. On his scaley wings, Mefeist zoomed toward Simon to deliver a death strike.

"Shit." Simon barely managed to collect his javelin, coat it with psyonic energy and bring it up horizontally to meet the scythe. Reon was knocked on his derriere when the two energies mixed. Mefeist's large, bat-like head was mere inches away from Simon's.

"Woah! Get some breath mints!" Mefeist put even more force on his scythe at the insult. Simon's arms buckled under the force, the throbbing in his arm not helping in the least. Mefeist was thin as... bone, but he was strong. He towered over Simon, even bent over as he was. The scythe was being blocked by only an inch of wood and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to hold his javelin steady so he wouldn't but sliced in half.

"A little help here, bro, would be greatly appreciated." As it turns out, Meric had heeded the plea even before it was asked. From the remains of Mefeist's crystalline prison, Meric had gathered the shards from when he turned himself into fire and turned it into a diamond hard arm. He got between the two and attempted to pry the scythe from the wood and away from his brother. But as soon as he tried to pry it loose, the scythe cleanly sliced through his arm.

"Shit." Simon swore again. "Alright, plan B."

Time slowed down as he planted his left heel into the sand and lifted his chest up. In doing so, he created enough room to plant the right end of the javelin into the sand. He adjusted his grip on the javelin and pulled up on the javelin and swung his right leg onto Meric's arched back. Mefeist lost his footing momentarily as he did this, but lost it even more as Simon then placed both palms on the sandy ground and pivoted with all his might, sending his left foot square into Mefeist's jaw. In doing so, Simon completely lost his balance and fell toward the sandy Earth, suppressing a grunt of pain as he landed on his injured arm. When Mefeist jerked back, his grip on scythe pried it out of the javelin.

And Angela, finally seeing an opening, made her way around the fighting and toward Reon. She helped him to his feet with a, 'What the hell are we supposed to do?' look on her face. Reon's only answer was to get back away from the three. Simon and Meric could take care of themselves; the two of them would either get in the way or end up as collateral damage.

Simon quickly got to his feet, trying to brush some of the sand out of his wound. Mefeist recovered just a hair sooner and swung his weapon in a wide arc. Thankfully, Meric was quicker. He back flipped onto his palms and used the momentum to deliver a kick to his sternum, sending him just out of range of the attack. Meric completed the flip and landed next to his severed limb, but he payed it no mind. As Mefeist saw, he didn't have to. His severed hand and forearm developed a molten quality and oozed toward Meric. It slithered up his leg, along his torso, and down his arm. Much to Mefeist's amazement, it reattached itself to his wrist, molding and melting itself back into its proper form. When it developed a light tan semblance, he flexed it, making a fist and other gestures to test out his reattached appendage.

"Pay attention, you noob demon!" Shouted Simon. He aimed the javelin for Mefeist's oversized cranium with pinpoint accuracy. But once again, Mefeaist was too fast; he quickly wrapped one large hand around the shaft and tossed it into the flames. Meric quickly followed suit and launched an attack of white-hot fire instead of the usual red. The hairs on the back of Reon's and Angela's stand up.

Wait, what was that smell?...

Ozone...

Realization hit Reon like a lightning bolt, figuratively and literally. But Meric's electrical orb faired no better than Simon's attack. With a swipe with the back of his hand, the orb was brushed aside into another one of the undamaged tents.

**BOOM**!

The barracks was obliterated in a blinding flash of white and yellow light.

"Damn it Meric, don't kill us in the process!" Angela yelled over the roar. She had to shield her eyes from the light, which also caused her to see Mefeist walking toward them first. "Look out!"

But it was still too late, Mefeist was pissed. He gave a slash of his clawed hands at Meric, who couldn't make a suitable defense in time. Blood soaked his vest as he was propelled into one of the flaming barracks.

"Bekta Kyr'stea barakashe." Mefeist said with a snarl. He advanced on Simon next. He attempted to charge up his fists with more psyonic energy, but it faired no better than his brother. He gave a backwards swipe with the same hand. Simon got the wind knocked out of him as he was launched in the opposite direction and into another smoldering tent.

"Stoigia net'staika pen'daeli shevaob!"

"Oh hell," Reon swore. Mefeist was making a beeline toward him, fury evident in his slitted eyes. He got to his feet and pivoted, aiming a roundhouse kick to his jaw once more. But it didn't work this time. Mefeist lowered the blade of the scythe to block it, then reached around it and grabbed his leg, lifting him in the air.

"I've had enough of you."

His scythe was enveloped in shadow and vanished within the cool and steady wind.

"I'll finish what I started with you, then take care of your friends." Mefeist once again wrapped his boney hand around Reon's arm. Once again, Reon was submerged in overpowering pain once more.

"AARRRGGHH!"

Mefeist uncaringly dropped the writhing Reon to the sandy ground. He turned on his heels and strolled over to the sparking and burning tent on his right. Meric was on his knees in the fire, a hand to his bleeding chest. He looked up at Mefeist, his face still immaculate of all emotion and pain, despite his wounds. Shadows once again flowed down Mefeist's arm, this time rematerializing the scythe in his right hand.

"There's no use for either you." He raised the scythe, the death blow ready to come. The reaper incarnate brought the blade down, even the howling wind ceased blowing and halted its song to watched the grisly spectacle about to take place. Even the bloody blade had a matchless brilliance as it rose like a cobra read to strike. Time slowed down once more as the blade took seemingly an eternity to lower, and Angela, still watching over Reon, could only watch in horror as it sailed to meet its mark.

"AARRGGHH!"

Angela jumped to her feet in surprise. Mefeist stumbled backwards, curling forward and clutching his forearms in pain. Even Meric was surprised as he dropped his weapon before he attacked and sank to his knees.

"Tam'vitte rel permissum mihi perago mestra corzana baarakshai sullivan!" He screamed, even louder than Reon. He glared at her with his piercing eyes, adjusted his grip on the scythe, and slammed the butt end of the staff into the sand. Angela couldn't stop herself as her eyes instantly started to droop. The last thing she saw Mefeist take flight on his great black wings and flight into the dark shadows of the night.

* * *

"We never found out why Mefeist took off. From Meric's view, it looked like that his gauntlets were the source of why he was in pain, but we don't have an answer to that either."

"Meric and Simon had recovered from their wounds. Apparently they both had heightened metabolisms that helped them heal and cope with the stress of using their powers. Simon, using him mind, and Meric, his body, have an incredible rate of control over their body functions; they're capable of blocking out pain or healing their wounds almost instantaneously." He gave a soundless laugh. "We on the other hand had different problems."

"It was easy for Meric to make a proper burial for the dead troops, being a metamorph. But we still had to flee. Reinforcements were to be arriving the next day because Meric managed to get a signal out before Mefeist appeared, and I doubt that they would believe that a demon killed everyone."

Reon's face turned downcast. He gave a sign and reached for his left arm and proceeded to remove his jacket. "When he touched me the second time, I briefly saw his thoughts." His arms shuddered visibly. "Five words kept appearing: Relinquo, Devildom, Trinity, Cado, and Occulus. Now Cado is Latin for fallen, and Occulus is the same for eye, but I got no idea what they meant to him. All except for Occulus and kinda what Cado is, but I'll get to that in a sec." The rest of his jacket was removed revealing his army shirt and toned, muscular arms underneath. He rolled back the little bit of sleeve on his left arm back slightly, revealing something to the Titans.

From his neck to his wrist, a large jet-black dragon tattoo on his arm. The head was near his wrist, with its jaw open with razor sharp teeth. It had pointed ears, each with a black hoop earing through each of its ears. There were two horns on the top of its reptilian head, right ahead of its scaley body, which wrapped twice around Reon's arm, the tail ending curled around his neck.

"When I came to, this was on my arm. Why? Who the hell really knows. But it caused a whole lot of trouble back in Cairo. I picked up on every stray thought on everyone I was near. It was hell on Earth for me. Simon had to constantly stay with me so I don't collapse from a sensory overload. Angela didn't fair much better. She could see everything at once with every step she took. In the end, they had to train us both so we wouldn't be overwhelmed with our powers. In the end, it turns out we had more abilities than we thought."

"As it turns out, Angela's power could not only let her see the past, but could somewhat predict what the future could be. And mine turned out to be really interesting. With Simon's help, I was able to focus the memories into a solid form." He brought up a gloved hand, and in a flash, was suddenly blazing with black energy. "He helped me learn that I could also send memories out in this form, as well as gather them. But since the power that I use is acquired from others, my ability to use them depends on the strength of the memories I collect. The more I colect, the stronger I get. But since some are weaker than others, my powers take on a dry ice in water appearance. Still solid, but sometimes appears as a gas."

"But it wasn't the only thing I was able to do." He depowered his hand and unsnapped a small leather pouch on his hip. Robin once again became uneasy, issuing a smile from Robin.

"Not gonna bite Robin." But he still stopped his hand. He waited for Robin, who gave a nod. Reon than reached into the pouch and pulled out the last thing the Titans expected.

He slowly removed his hand, revealing a deep blue gemstone that was giant by normal standards. Approximately three inches in diameter, it was perfectly cut and glowed in an aqua blue brilliance. Within its depths, the very ocean itself seemed to flow in time with Reon's heartbeat, delighted that it was able to be shown to the heros.

"This little beauty was given to me just after we fought Mefeist. No no no, not by anyone in Cairo." He gave a loud laugh that startled everyone in the room. "I actually found it in later that week. As it turns out, the hotel room we acquired through Meric's ill gotten gains wasn't at all top secret as we originally thought. We received a package addressed to all four of us, but on the inside was a note, addresses specifically to me." Reon's grin couldn't have been wider. "It said 'Even in the darkest heart, the slightest light saves the world. I'll be watching.' And as it turns out, it was signed 'Cado.'" He entertained a thought for a second, "Why do I keep smiling and giggling like a schoolgirl?" He didn't move for a few seconds, then shrugged to himself.

"Meric was the first to figure it out, like everything else in the universe." He said, mumbling the last part. "As it turns out, my powers reacted with this little piece of eye candy, thus the reason I call it the Eye due to my lack of rational thought." His laughter lessened and then stopped. "Back on tract to the point, Meric found out that a rather unusual byproduct was made when my powers, or other sources or densely packed power sources, intermingled with the Eye."

He waited with a small smile on his face until Beast Boy gave a, "Well, made what?" He said, listening eagerly to the story. Reon gave an exaggerated wide eyed grin.

"Glad you asked!" He gave another chuckle and turned to Cyborg and Robin. "Tachyons."

"What!?" Came four voices and a, "Why don't I ever know any of the smart terms?"

Robin turned to Beast Boy. "Tachyons are theoretical particles that move faster than light, and can theoretically be used to initiate time travel." He turned back to Reon. "And that's why you are here?" He asked.

Reon nodded. "Indeed. The problem is, because the thoughts I collect, I can't always find a happy medium between the strength of my powers and my strength of mind. Therefore," He nervously rubbed the back of his head. "I don't always aim right. Like just before for instance. Was aiming for the desert in fear of my life, but we ended up here. And not stuck in the wall again."

"Now, after we got control of our powers, we were happy, delighted, thrilled, and other terms that grossly over exaggerate our emotions. Except for the deluge of fear we felt later on." He placed the Eye back in its pouch.

"The UN had a meeting to discuss their next course of action, but they shouldn't have bothered. Terrorist had rigged the UN conference. The building was leveled, no survivors. Anarchy and war sprang up everywhere. Unfortunately, the four of us had to part ways. Angela and I headed toward to Japan to meet with our sensei, who taught us a fair amount of martial arts techniques before we joined the army. Meric and Simon had to head to Greece to sort through a Fascist takeover. Metahumans weren't really in full swing as they are in this world, so they had to be covert. But it was still no use."

"U-7 7400 H Class Electromagnetic Field Generator. Monstrously powerful. The best in its class. Especially if you siphon power from the Hadron Collider, the world's best ion collector in the world, at least when it was activated. It blacked out the entire northern hemisphere, but that was a waste of resources on the terrorists' behalf." His voice was now sullen.

"Contained for so long, hardly anyone had a defense against smallpox. It was released at an airport terminal in Buenos Ares, one of the few that was still operational. No one ever stood a chance, but the terrorists weren't done. They acquired plans for an atomic reactor override from the ruins of the Pentagon. Idiots should stop watching 24, but I understood why they thought it was necessary. So-called martyrs wouldn't care if they were killed in a nuclear explosion, so it would be a real boon if they could seize control of the reactors before terrorists could. But they planned to launch the EMP before the override was completed. It was flawless, not even Einstein himself could have planned it better."

"Since the override was mostly written on documents and wasn't saved on a hard drive, the plans were intact when the EMP was launched, another reason why I think that there was an inside source for the terrorists. But in the end, it didn't matter. Reactors worldwide were melting down one by one, and Angela and I were in the blast radius of the reactor in Onagawa. We never found our sensei, and neither were we able to warn Meric and Simon in time. I used the Eye and left our dimension before the meltdown occurred." Reon's arms tightened. "I didn't have a choice. Even if we wanted to go back, there isn't much to go back to any more. I find it strange, why would terrorists kill themselves in the process along with everyone else? We'll never know."

He looked up. "And I know what you're thinking, literally. Why not just go back in time and fix the damage? The problem was my powers itself. The Eye increased the intensity of my powers exponentially, and that created a feedback loop when I enter a dimension. I think that it's possible that that has something to do with it, but I'm not to sure. Going back in time is the only serious problem with my powers; if I go back in time, and someone is dead in the present but not the past, the moment I enter the past, they die instantly."

A collective gasp traveled through the group. But before any of them spoke, Reon started back up again. "I only went back in time once, and it wasin an attempt to fix the damage. But I was trying to do it in baby steps first. I found out what happens when I do with some help from Meric. I found out because out because of a hospital we were near while we were still in Cairo; six patients were alive one minute and dead the next. I never made the attempt again."

Both he and Angela gave a collective sigh, the latter quiet all the way through Reon's story. It took a minute for him to speak up again. "So, that's my history lesson, any questions?" The tone wasn't humorous, but also not brooding.

Robin was the one to speak, "I didn't imagine what you've gone through, so-"

"Don't apologize, Robin. I appreciate the sympathy, but there wasn't anything that could be done. I know that may seem callous of me, but I've seen my fair share of death and war. I know how to admit when all is lost." He picked up his jacket from where it fell on the ground a couple minutes back and wrapped his swords in it.

"Oh, yeah," Beast Boy spoke up. "What happened at the power plant?" Robin interrupted before Reon could respond.

"I think our guests would like a little bit of a break. I think they deserve a little reprieve."

"It would be very much appreciated." Angela finally chirped. In turn the Titans filed out, followed closely by the two newcomers. The hydraulic doors slid open, letting the group in the hallway.

"So, about the power plant?" Robin questioned.

"Yeah. And I wasn't lying about before, it really was my fault. I already told you about my occasional lack of control of the eye, and I was still in the testing faze. I followed Overload back to Jump City, because I was the one who let him out."

"Thing is, a lot of weird things can happen to you when you are testing out a powerful source of energy, like teleporting yourself inside a wall."

Robin turned his head while he walked, "So it was you inside the prison, but why was there an explosion?"

"I had to blow myself up because I was inside a wall! I was still aiming for that blasted desert. When the shock wore off, I saw him escaping."

"Did you see Mumbo escape?"

"Mumbo? No, I only saw Overload by the time I got out of that mess. But he was made of energy, so he could outrun me with all that power pumping into that place. And because of that, he amassed enough energy to come here in no time. I guessed he would come here because of all the fond memories with your team. Turns out I was right."

"Wait. You're also the reason why Raven keeps having problems with her powers." Beast Boy said. "Every time you appear, -"

"I know. I know. Raven's powers work through the use of your empathy and manipulation of the bonds in magic. Correct?" Raven nodded.

"I use a highly condensed form of magic as propulsion through space/time, so all beings who use magic will feel like a rail road spike is driving into their temple. It creates a ripple effect, so any magical being in the immediate area is affected."

Robin took a right turn next and Cyborg gaze him a questioning look. He only gave him a smile. Realization hit Cyborg and he gave a Grinch's grin.

It was Starfire's turn to ask a question. "And you knew all of our names and abilities just from the memories you have gathered?"

Reon let off a bark-like laugh. "Oh, I was so hoping you would ask that question. Heh heh. When I was growing up, my brother wasn't my only hero. I also loved to watch Saturday morning cartoons. Personal favorite was, drum roll please, the Teen Titans!" Now at this, everyone stopped.

"You mean the say you knew all about us from cartoons!?" Cyborg said in bewilderment.

"Well... yeah. Space and time gives the multiverse an unlimited amout of possibilities."

"...okay."

Beast Boy's gaze drifted down toward his swords in the tightly wrapped bundle. "Well, I guess you really didn't need your powers when you're fighting Overload with the two of the same swords like that."

"Actually," He unwrapped his jacket, revealing both swords. Both of the sheathes were wrapped in the same fine black material with crisscrossing gold stitching. One of the sheathes was actually considerably shorter than the other, almost by a full foot. "One of them is a katana, but the other is a wakizashi. I use a variation of the sword styles of Iaido and Kenjutsu, but I got to develop my own brand." He gave a small chuckle.

Robin couldn't stop a smile. "So you think you can fight pretty well?"

"Well, my sensei-Ow!" Angela slapped him upside the head. "I'm sorry, OUR sensei was considered one of the best in the world, though I'm fairly certain we are the only ones whoever saw his face."

"All right then, good." Robin finally reached his destination at a pair of double doors. The hydraulics opened them and both Angela and Reon both stared in the confines of the Titan's Tower personal gym.

"Kinda hoping it was a hot shower." Angela said as an afterthought.

"Not yet. You said you two were skilled fighters." Robin smiled and folded his arms. "I'd like to put that to the test myself."

"Now don't be putting words in my mouth, Boy Wonder."

"Show me."

Reon sweatdropped. "Come again?"

"You said you could fight, now show me."

* * *

Holy crap, that was a long chapter, and the fight scene was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. My problem is I have trouble concentrating, and I also need to through homework in the equation. And now I'm planning another fight scene so soon. Man, I'm insane. R&R people! Now enough with this all nighter . . . time to sleep... (faceplants on keyboard.)

...

Oh, forgot. Small update.

For those who have read it, There is a fight scene coming up between Reon and Robin, Angela might come out to play as well. Got one review, so want to remind people.

What I'm saying is that my resources are limited, so I have only so much to go on. My story is designed to take into account the opinions of my readers. So if you would like to volunteer any sword techniques or martial arts, go ahead, I'll see if I can use them. Reon is somewhat of a crafty trickster, as he is still hiding a very special ability from the Titans, so it is only natural that he has a few aces up his sleeve.

Like I said, if you wish to volunteer any info, go ahead. For those of you concerned, I still have some skills in reserve my two characters can use.


End file.
